what i’m reading

Categories: Books

What I’m Reading (12.24.24)

It’s Christmas Eve and I have three very meh book reviews for you. I didn’t plan this! It’s just how things happened.

The Unsinkable Greta James by Jennifer E. Smith (★★★☆☆)

Audiobook • Library • Contemporary Fiction • 2022

Short synopsis: An indie musician reeling from her mother’s sudden death a few months ago reconnects with her estranged father on a week-long cruise in this tale of grief, fame, and love.

I started this audiobook on the drive down to Miami for my cruise. It’s narrated by Mae Whitman so the performance was spot-on, but the actual novel itself didn’t totally work for me. For one, Greta’s father was a straight-up asshole. Of course, he’s dealing with the grief over unexpectedly losing his wife (and being on a cruise that they planned together to celebrate their anniversary). But he was an asshole before Greta’s mom died so that’s no excuse. As someone who is currently estranged from my father because he’s also an asshole who never treated me well, I found it really troubling to read this story and realize that the author wanted these two people to reconcile. Sure, reconciliation is great and I would love to be able to have my dad in my life again, but it’s not always the best thing. And I don’t know if Greta’s father made the type of amends he needed to make. He belittled her career and her relationships, and Greta deserved better. There’s also a weird romance side plot in this novel that didn’t really need to be there, and I found its conclusion to be pretty unbelievable. What I did love about this novel were the explorations of grief and the mentorship Greta gave to a young girl on the cruise who was a fan of hers. All in all, an uneven novel that I’m not likely to recommend.

The Guncle Abroad by Steven Rowley (★★★☆☆)

E-Book • Library • Contemporary Fiction • 2024

Short synopsis: Five years after caring for his niece and nephew following their mother’s death, Patrick O’Hara is back in their lives as they face another major transition—their father’s remarriage in Italy. As family tensions, a cold-footed groom, and chaotic wedding plans unfold, Patrick must balance his role as protector, peacemaker, and fun uncle amidst the mayhem.

I really liked The Guncle by Steven Rowley, so when I heard he had written a follow-up novel, I excitedly added it to my Goodreads TBR. I downloaded the e-book for my cruise, although I didn’t start reading it until I got home. (I always think I’m going to read so much more than I do!) And I’ll be honest: I wanted to abandon this book. It was so boring with very little tension and very long descriptions of the places they were visiting in Europe. It felt pedantic and overwrought. But when I went on Goodreads to see how other people felt about the book, I saw a sea of 4-star reviews and I thought that maybe I was being too hard on the book, so I kept going. While the book got marginally better, I still found it a bit of a slog. I was frustrated by the ornery guncle schtick and annoyed by the writing. It just wasn’t the book for me and I think I can safely say goodbye to these characters for good. (However, if the author does end up writing a book about the lesbian aunt, Palmina, I am here for that.)

Practice Makes Perfect by Sarah Adams (★★☆☆☆)

E-Book • Owned (Amazon) • Contemporary Romance • 2023

Short synopsis: Annie Walker, a small-town florist in Rome, Kentucky, is determined to transform herself into the confident leading lady of her favorite romance movies to find her perfect match. Enlisting the help of Will Griffin—a rugged, tattooed bodyguard temporarily in town—Annie embarks on practice dates and flirting lessons. But as their chemistry heats up and friendship blurs into something more, Annie starts to wonder if her dream guy isn’t the polished romantic hero she imagined—but the real, imperfect man right in front of her.

I recently read and loved When in Rome by Sarah Adams and was excited to read the next book in the series. I don’t know if I just didn’t notice the bad writing in the first book, but in this one, hoo boy. It was so very bad. This is another example of a book that I should have abandoned. In this case, I kept going because it was an easy romance that I could read quickly (even if I did roll my eyes so many times). I didn’t feel like Annie and Will were full people in their own rights. Annie was the trope of the virgin, small-town girl whose only goals in life were to be a wife and mother (snooze). And Will was the “guy from the wrong side of the tracks.” Because did you know? He has tattoos! And he’s a bodyguard! So he’s totally a bad boy. There were so many plot holes in this novel and I just felt like I was reading a book by an entirely different author than the one who wrote When in Rome. What a disappointment.

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Categories: Books

What I’m Reading (12.18.24)

Worst Case Scenario by T.J. Newman (★★★★★)

E-Book • Library • Thriller • 2024

Short synopsis: When a pilot suffers a heart attack mid-flight, a commercial airliner crashes into a nuclear power plant in Waketa, Minnesota, triggering the world’s first Level 8 nuclear disaster.

T.J. Newman really knows how to write a terrifying thriller. I read this on my cruise (I know), and I made sure to find out where the nuclear power plants are located in Florida. Luckily, none close to me! This book got a bit more technical than her other novels as she really got into the nitty-gritty of what happens when something destroys parts of a nuclear power plant. It was a bit like reading an Andy Weir novel. The important parts of the story are the characters and it’s okay to skim some of the more science-y sections. There were a lot of characters and sub-plots in this book but I felt like I could keep track of everyone easily (probably because all of the storylines were so different from each other!). The novel definitely had me on the edge of my seat and I just can’t believe T.J. Newman keeps knocking it out of the park again and again!

Make the Season Bright by Ashley Herring Blake (★★☆☆☆)

E-Book • Library • Contemporary Romance • 2024

Short synopsis: Five years after being left at the altar, Charlotte Donovan is thriving in New York with her string quartet, the Rosalind Quartet. But when she agrees to spend Christmas with a bandmate’s family in Colorado, she’s blindsided to find her ex, Brighton, also there.

This is the first time I’ve read a book by Ashley Herring Blake that ended up being a major disappointment. This book was rather boring. It’s a second-chance romance, which isn’t my favorite trope, and it was hard for me to get on board for this one. Leaving someone at the altar is such a dick move, and I don’t think Brighton’s excuses were enough to warrant a second chance. I also didn’t really feel any sort of chemistry between the characters and I felt like I never really knew Brighton and Charlotte. They were one-dimensional. It was hard for me to believe that these two people were going to move from not speaking at all to suddenly putting their past behind them and falling in love in the space of a few days. It just didn’t work for me. I needed more of a build-up and more of a reason to root for these women.

Hercule Poirot’s Christmas by Agatha Christie (★★★★☆)

E-Book • Owned (Amazon) • Mystery • 1938

Short synopsis: In Hercule Poirot’s Christmas, the holiday turns deadly when wealthy patriarch Simeon Lee gathers his family for a tense reunion, only to announce he’s cutting their allowances and changing his will. When Simeon is murdered, Poirot must unravel the web of family secrets and rivalries to catch the killer.

Oh, how I love a locked-room mystery and Agatha Christie seems to do a lot of these. For the first time when reading a Christie mystery, I kept a list in my Notes app about the characters so I could keep everyone straight since I always seem to get lost in the sea of characters and forget who is who. (Of course, this time, there weren’t too many characters to keep track of and everything was pretty straightforward.) I liked this mystery a lot, though! I was super surprised by the “whodunit” and this is one of the first times I couldn’t figure out who it could be. Everyone had a motive and I love when an author can hide the murderer in plain sight, like she did for this one. This is a quick, fun holiday mystery that I would definitely recommend!

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Categories: Books

What I’m Reading (12.9.24)

The Last One at the Wedding by Jason Rekulak (★★★☆☆)

Print • Owned (Book of the Month) • Thriller • 2024

Short synopsis: Frank Szatowski is stunned when his estranged daughter invites him to her wedding, only to discover she’s marrying into a wealthy tech family, and he must navigate his discomfort and uncover unsettling secrets while trying to reconnect with her.

I’ve been on the record that Jason Rekulak’s novel, Hidden Pictures, is one of the worst thrillers I’ve read (although everyone raves about it). But I wanted to give him a second chance when everyone was raving about this novel. And I just need to accept that Rekulak’s writing is not for me. While this novel wasn’t quite as bad as Hidden Pictures, it still wasn’t very good with a deeply unsatisfying ending. Parts of this novel were appropriately creepy (as anything involving a billionaire family and a destination wedding at their property would be!) and I was definitely turning pages quickly to find out what was really happening with this odd family. And it was a shocking reveal, so I’ll give the author props for that! But once the reveal happened, the plot fizzled for me. The pacing of the novel slowed down and I couldn’t see where the author was going with the ending. I also found just about everyone in the novel (even Frank) to be wholly unlikable and that made it hard to find anyone to root for. A lackluster thriller, in my opinion, but your mileage may vary.

The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood (★★★★☆)

Print • Owned (Little Free Library) • Contemporary Romance • 2021

Short synopsis: Olive Smith, a Ph.D. candidate who doesn’t believe in love, pretends to date her arrogant professor, Adam Carlsen, so that her best friend Anh will feel comfortable dating Jeremy, a guy Olive dated for a few weeks. (Anh doesn’t want to break girlcode to date Jeremy, but Olive has zero feelings for him.) But as their fake relationship deepens, Olive unexpectedly falls for Adam, complicating her career and heart.

For some reason, this very popular romance hasn’t been on my TBR list because I thought it had very mixed reviews. (It has a 4.1 star rating with 1.5 million reviews, so I was mistaken!) I saw it in a Little Free Library earlier this year so I picked it up for myself. And I was delighted by it! It was so much fun and smart and I just adored the relationship between Olive and Adam. It was a bit of the grumpy/sunshine trope because, as a professor, Adam is not very well-liked by his students because he’s a bit brusque in his critiques. And Olive is a happy-go-lucky Ph.D. student who breaks down his walls. I loved the friendships in this novel (including the male friendships!) and also really enjoyed how the author explored demisexuality and how everyone’s sex drives can be different. I just really enjoyed this novel. It was a satisfying romance.

Humor Me by Cat Shook (★★★☆☆)

Audiobook • Library • Contemporary Fiction • 2024

Short synopsis: Presley Fry, a jaded assistant at the Late Night Show, finds solace in the stand-up comedy world but struggles with her mother’s loss. When her late mother’s best friend, Susan, introduces her to her son Lawrence, Presley is forced to confront her emotional walls, discovering that laughter and unexpected connections may offer healing and new possibilities.

This book is essentially a love letter to New York City. It should also be a love letter for therapy because omg does Presley Fry need therapy more than any character I’ve ever met. This girl is depressed to the max, and she needs to deal with her grief, her avoidant attachment style, and her traumatic childhood with a licensed therapist. Instead, Presley does not get therapy. She deals with her grief with an unhealthy attachment to a coworker, throwing herself into her work, and avoiding any semblance of healthy friendship. I wanted so much more from Presley, but she was very hard to like and I think the author did a disservice with her character. Read this book if you love NYC and stand-up comedy, but not if you’re looking for character growth. (2.5 stars, rounded up to 3.)

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Categories: Recurring Series

What I’m Reading (11.24.24)

Pretty Face by Lucy Parker (★★★★★)

E-Book • Owned (Amazon) • Contemporary Romance • 2017

Short synopsis: Lily Lamprey is determined to prove herself in her first role as a stage actress. Sparks fly when she catches the eye of the director, Luc Savage. As their romance deepens, both their careers are put at risk, testing their love and ambitions.

This romance was a reread for me, and oh, I loved it just as much as I did the first time around! I think this book is when I really noticed Lucy Parker’s talent as a novelist and she became an auto-buy author for me. There was so much I loved about this novel, between the sweet romance, the complicated family dynamics, and getting a glimpse into what it takes to put on a stage production these days. I loved the rapport between Lily and Luc—they had sizzling chemistry but also a very sweet way of caring for one another. Please do yourself a favor and pick up a Lucy Parker romance if you haven’t yet!

The Very Nice Box by Laura Blackett and Eve Gleichman (★★☆☆☆)

Audiobook • Spotify • Fiction • 2021

Short synopsis: Ava Simon, a designer at a Brooklyn furniture company (basically an IKEA knockoff), is startled by her reaction to her new boss, Mat Putnam. As an unexpected relationship between them blossoms, things begin to unravel for Mat and Ava realizes everything is not as it seems.

I had a very strange reading experience with this book. The book is marketed as “suspenseful” and I was expecting something a bit more dark and twisted than what I got. Instead, about 70% of the book was a bland romance between a woman who had a hard time opening up to others and a boring white man who expected the world to fall at his feet. Snooze. Finally, just about a few chapters to the end, things picked up and the suspensefulness I had been promised was delivered. By that point, though, I was tired of the book and didn’t feel like the payoff was worth it. I needed more of a build-up to the big reveal rather than it all happening at one time. It was also just hard to feel invested in the story between Ava and Mat when I knew something crazy was about to be revealed, so why are we spending pages and pages and pages with them and their budding romance? Meh.

Our Woman in Moscow by Beatriz Williams (★★★★☆)

Print • Library • Historical Fiction • 2021

Short synopsis: In 1948, Iris Digby and her family mysteriously vanished from London, sparking rumors of either a Soviet kidnapping or defection. Four years later, Ruth Macallister receives a postcard from her estranged twin sister, prompting her to journey to Moscow under false pretenses to rescue Iris and her family.

This was a great historical fiction novel! The Cold War era fascinates me so much, but I find that there is little I know about it. This novel took me on a journey of a small part of the Cold War involving a woman whose husband is a Soviet spy and her sister who knows very little about her life. I’ve read many novels by Beatriz Williams and this one felt a lot darker and heavier than her other ones, while still having her signature lightness with some romance thrown in to keep things from feeling too dark. I wanted a little more from the ending—it felt very rushed and I would have liked another chapter or two to explain everything—but other than that, it was an excellent novel that had me on the edge of my seat at the end!

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Categories: Books

What I’m Reading (11.13.24)

Kitchens of the Great Midwest by J. Ryan Stradel (★★★☆☆)

Print • Owned (Amazon) • Fiction • 2015

Short synopsis: When Lars Thorvald is left by his wife, he becomes the sole caretaker for their infant daughter Eva. As Eva grows up, she develops a passion for cooking, transforming diverse Minnesota flavors into a successful pop-up supper club. Kitchens of the Great Midwest explores the relationship between food, community, and identity.

This is a situation of “Reader, know thyself,” which is a concept from the ladies at Currently Reading. I am not someone who likes to read books that center around food. I just get bored by all of the food talk and I always skim anything involving cooking or recipes. This book comes highly rated by many other people, but it just didn’t work for me. While I thought it was an interesting way to tell a story (every chapter is from the point of view of someone who knows Eva, whether directly or tangentially), I didn’t connect with anyone in the story. It’s very much a character-driven story and I was left wanting more. I wanted something more to sink my teeth into, and this book didn’t really have that. The only reason I didn’t abandon it was because it wasn’t a very long book (under 300 pages). Would I recommend this book? I think so, especially if you love a foodie book, but it will not be going on any favorites lists of mine.

The Spectacular by Fiona Davis (★★★★☆)

Audiobook • Library • Historical Fiction • 2023

Short synopsis: In 1956 New York City, nineteen-year-old Marion is thrilled to join the Rockettes at Radio City Music Hall, but she soon discovers the intense pressures and challenges of the role. When a bomb explodes in the theater as part of a series of attacks by the “Big Apple Bomber,” Marion becomes embroiled in the investigation, urging the police to use psychological profiling.

I really enjoyed this novel! Mostly, I enjoyed the scenes of Marion as a Rockette and her friendships with the other dancers. I loved the glimpse into the audition process, the rehearsals, and life on stage. What an insanely cool world to be a part of! It was also interesting to learn about what it was like to be involved in a creative field like dancing in the 1950s. This isn’t exactly the type of job a well-to-do family wants for their daughter, so it caused a lot of rifts in Marion’s family. The book could really be broken into two parts – Marion as a Rockette and Marion trying to catch the Big Apple Bomber. It feels a little far-fetched that she would be so involved in an investigation of this magnitude, but hey, creative license and all that. (Side note: The Big Apple Bomber is a real person and he really did cause havoc around NYC in the 1950s. He was also finally caught using criminal profiling, but the people in the novel were fictionalized.) I wanted a different ending for Marion in this novel, but all in all, it was a fascinating story and now I just want to go see the Rockettes!

Ready or Not by Cara Bastone (★★★★★)

Print • Owned (Book of the Month) • Contemporary Fiction • 2024

Short synopsis: A surprise pregnancy leads to even more life-changing revelations in this heartfelt, slow-burn, friends-to-lovers romance of found family and unexpected love.

Oh, you guys, I just loved this sweet romance. Friends-to-lovers is my favorite romance trope, and this one did it in such a delightful way. This book was funny, heartwarming, and mostly closed-door. Eve has an uncharacteristic one-night stand with a man in a bar and from that encounter, she finds out she’s pregnant. Enter Shep, Eve’s best friend’s brother who steps up to help her through the confusion and morning sickness and figuring out this new life she never imagined for herself. I’m not normally a slow-burn romance gal, but this one just really worked for me—probably because of all Eve was going through at the time. It would have felt out-of-place for Eve to be suddenly pregnant and having a wild love affair with Shep, you know? Anyway, I loved this story and the whole cast of characters.

What are you reading?